21 Kids Will be Biking After Christmas.
How do I know this you may ask? I know this because I helped collect then repair then deliver those same 21 bikes to the local Kankakee, IL Salvation Army. They have a Toyland event where local underprivelaged families can come to the Salvation Army gym that has been all set up with rows and rows of tables filled with donated toys and games. The families usually fill out a wish list for their children and when they arrive at the Toyland, a Salvation Army volunteer walks them through and helps find the perfect, special toy on the wish list.
The bicycles all come from Project Re:Cycle, which is a local bicycle 501c3 charity. They get over 150 bicycles a year donated from the local police departments and the local bike shop. They are in various degrees of condition. Many were stolen and are pretty much ready to ride. Many others are in such bad shape that they can only be used for scrap parts we can remove from the bike such as the seat, handlebars, wheels, reflectors etc. Others just need a new inner tube or maybe the brakes don't work or some other minor repair.
The charity started over 40 years ago in Bourbonnais, IL by two local friends, Bob and Francis, and when they both passed away many years ago, there was a real possibility that the entire operation would be shut down. There wasn't a reliable location to set up the shop and over the years, the shop and volunteers were living a strange nomad life. The shop ended up getting moved over 7 times in a 12 year period. The current location will hopefully be the last time it has to move.
I have been one of the directors of the charity since Bob and Francis passed away. We have a regular group of volunteers that show up nearly every Tuesday evening from 6-8:00 to help fix a few more bikes. There are 5 repair stations with four color coded sets of tools. Red, blue, yellow and black, and you better not mix them up. There is a room full of wheels and rims and a cleaning station to make the repaired bikes look as nice as possible. Over the years, we have had over 1800 bicycles come through the shop. Some were given a new home with a deserving new owner, and some ended up being sent to a scrap yard and recycled.
The very best part for the charity is the look on a little kid's face when he gets his very first bike. It's priceless and is the perfect reason why our mission statement is a very simple one. EVERY KID SHOULD HAVE A BIKE.
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